


you're worse than nicotine

by orphan_account



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Crack Relationships, Drug Use, Drunk Sex, Drunken Kissing, Dubious Consent, Especially Oswald, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Flirting, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Party, Party Games, Public Blow Jobs, Someone save Edward Nygma, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-02-26 10:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18715528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Oswald Cobblepot is the self-made King of Gotham University. Edward Nygma is the last person you would expect spending time with said King.Under unforeseen circumstances, their paths cross and Ed can barely comprehend what's going on before it's already happening.





	1. i'm going numb, i've been hijacked

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by the numerous college fics people have already made; namely daggersandribbons's Gotham U!-series (love u)  
> prepare for a lot of drunk young adults living their best (or worst) life, lots of gayness and LOTS of flirting  
> tags will be updated as the story progresses ;)
> 
> [ the title and chapter names are from Nicotine by Panic! At The Disco ]

Oswald couldn’t deny he had a soft spot for parties. Or maybe it should have been called a hard spot in his case, because every event went with the same general blueprints; meet friends, get wasted, maybe give a blowjob or two, end up in bed with some football jock who kept repeating “I’m not gay” while ramming into another dude’s ass. This setting was something he was rather accustomed to by now, and there didn’t seem to be an end near.

He was sitting in front of his dresser, draping a black eyeliner around his lash line when the door banged open without a warning. He jolted out of surprise and accidentally made the line way too long. He spun around in his chair with an irritated expression at Zsasz, who had waltzed in like he owned the place.

“How’s my favourite boyyyy?” the bald man asked and slammed the door closed. Oswald rolled his eyes and turned back to the mirror.

“Look what you’ve done”, he sighed, observing the damage done to his eye makeup.

“Make it a cat-eye”, Victor suggested, reaching over to grab a handful of gummy worms from the bowl that was neatly placed next to Oswald’s makeup bag. “Aww, I love your hair”, he continued, nearly purring as he monitored the hairstyle all the while stuffing worms into his mouth.

“Wanted to try something new”, Oswald shrugged, reaching to grab a proper liquid eyeliner from the bag. His hair was definitely slightly different from usual; he had curled it up a bit and it kind of resembled a pair of tiny devil horns on the top of his head. He also had renewed his purple highlights and had grabbed a bottle of fluorescent violet hair dye instead of his normal dark purple one. There were always UV lights when it came to Barbara Kean’s – or Barbara Queen’s, as she preferred – parties.

“Heard a rumour”, Zsasz said after a moment of silence and Oswald glanced at him in the middle of putting on mascara. “Apparently Tabby isn’t gonna be alone tonight. The big bro is coming along.” Oswald nearly stabbed himself in the eye with the mascara wand.

“Big bro?” he shrieked and closed the tube. “As in Theo Galavan?!”

“The man himself”, Victor nodded and slurped up the last gummy. “I dunno what he’s doing, to be honest. The dude’s the last person that would enjoy a disco. I mean, have you ever seen him wear anything but a suit? And he’s ancient! Like 26??”

“Victor, you’re 24”, Oswald sighed and got up from the chair. He walked up to the full body mirror and twirled around it on his tiptoes for a moment. He looked rather feral in his ripped booty shorts and new, surprisingly not broken fishnet tights, accompanied with a leather jacket with spikes on it and a baggy Fall Out Boy band tee. He finished his look with platform sneakers that gave him at least three inches more height.

“Dashing”, Zsasz complimented him as they exited the dorm room. Oswald felt the other’s arm sneak around his skinny waist – he didn’t mind. This was all just a game. He wanted the attention. He wanted the rumours. And Zsasz wanted to have fun.

They arrived at the Kean estate within half an hour. Barbara Kean lived in a huge flat located just inside the Gotham Clocktower. It was probably one of the most glamorous and expensive apartments in the entire city, but her parents were dirty rich and gave their darling daughter whatever her little heart desired. Babs was usually the one who organized the best parties. And by best, it just meant she had the most colourful array of boozes and the strongest weed in town.

Barbara was at the door greeting guests when they approached. The blonde woman’s face turned into the brightest of smiles and she immediately pulled Oswald into a tight embrace. “Oh, Ozzie!” she warbled and gave him two sticky cheek kisses. “You look _so_ handsome! Look at you two.”

“Hey, Babs”, Victor waved as he slithered past the two blocking the entryway. “Bye, Babs.” The bald man was gone as soon as he had arrived, leaving Oswald alone with Kean.

“I heard Theo is coming tonight”, Oswald said in a slightly questioning tone, moving out of the way or a couple of other college kids walking through the doors.

“Yes”, Barbara smiled menacingly. Oswald didn’t return the smile. “Oh, I know you hate him. But you don’t have to interact! Just, he’s got some stuff going on and he’s trying to recruit a few people for his job or something. Tabby thought the party would be a good place to start”, she fluttered her eyelash extensions and smirked.

“Just keep that frog-faced bastard away from me and we’ll be good”, Oswald stated and turned to leave. Barbara was quick to peck him on the cheek one more time before saying her goodbyes and letting Oswald walk properly into the flat. The party was already at full swing, people dancing, and the first tipsy teenagers already draped over the king-sized bed. The parties were usually attended by a lot of people. Oswald refused to believe Barbara knew all of them. They were probably friends of Barbara’s friends’ friends or something along the lines. He managed to spot a familiar man standing on the other side of the dancefloor and begun making his way over to him.

“Didn’t know you were back from the academy, Jim”, he greeted the blonde from behind and got the man to turn around. Oswald slithered right up to him and pecked a cheeky kiss on James’s lips. Just a feather-light touch, but it was enough to make the man visibly regret his decision to not ignore the raven-haired man.

“Oswald”, he pushed the other back slightly and sighed. “Yes, I am back.” Jim studied in one of the most famous police academies in the whole of North America, and only got back home during the holidays and the odd weekends. It seemed like this was one of them.

“Missed your handsome face”, Oswald arrogantly grabbed a full glass of something alcoholic from a random guy that had walked past them as he spoke. For a second the boy looked like he wanted to shout something, but he apparently recognized Cobblepot, because he was fast to disappear from the scene. Oswald took a sip of the bright orange liquid. He had no idea what it entailed, but it wasn’t too bad.

“His face sure is handsome.” Oswald looked over at the woman standing next to Gordon. At first, he hadn’t even noticed the woman’s existence. She was taller than both of them, especially with her high heels, had an olive complexion and unarguably a very pretty face.

“Should I know you?” Oswald asked, twirling the glass in his hand. The tall woman raised her hand, which Oswald reluctantly shook.

“Leslie Thompkins. Call me Lee, though”, she introduced herself. “I’m Jim’s girlfriend”, Lee added with a small smirk. Oswald’s eyes widened for a bit.

“Wow”, he said looking at Jim, “six months in Washington turned you straight already.” His grinned resembled that of a shark’s when he noticed how uncomfortable James looked.

“We met at the campus”, Jim tried to trail the conversation somewhere else than his sexuality.

“Are you also gonna be a cop?” Oswald asked Lee and couldn’t help the doubtful scoff.

“Oh, no. I’m a med student”, Lee cleared up. “I was going to meet my cousin at the academy, but I stumbled upon something more exciting”, she bumped Jim softly on the hip with hers and smiled teasingly. Jim rolled his eyes. Lee gave him a smooch on the cheek. “I love to see you squirm.”

“I wasn’t squirming.”

“A little squirm”, Lee insisted, brushing a loose strand of hair from Gordon’s forehead.

“Okay, you two are adorable and I genuinely can’t bring myself to ruin your night”, Oswald interrupted the sugary sweet exchange between the lovers. “I thought you didn’t date people taller than you, though, Jimmy?”

~~~

Edward regretted every single one of his life decisions that had brought him to this point. He stared at his reflection, trying to figure out if he should go for a sweater – arguably the superior option in terms of comfort – or give in and pick the green suit that was neatly placed on top of his bed. How did people usually dress to parties anyway? Why had he even agreed on going to said party? Well, he did know the answer to that. He simply couldn’t say no to one of the only friends he had managed to make during his stay at Gotham University; Kristen Kringle. The young woman had been so excited in going and had thrown an invite at Edward one day at lunch. How could he resist the adorable smile on her face?

Ed groaned as he raised the glittery green suit jacket from the bed. It was already shedding everywhere. How impractical and bothersome. Kristen, however, had insisted that he would look “dashing” in some sparkle. It would bring out his features, she had said, and it wasn’t a secret that Edward was _not_ the more fashionable one out of the two. He cringed as he slid the glitter monster on top of his white dress shirt. Okay, it didn’t feel absolutely disgusting to wear. But he looked like a goddamn disco ball!

His inner dialogue was interrupted by a knock on the door. He scrambled up to open it and was greeted by the familiar ginger woman. Kristen’s face turned into something Ed couldn’t quite read when she saw what he was wearing. “Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed, entering the dorm room and circling Edward like a prey. “You look so good.”

“Do I, though?” Ed asked as he returned in front of the mirror and stared at himself. Kristen appeared behind her, measuring Ed’s reflection up and down.

“I think some black jeans would go well with that. Tone down the vibes a little bit.”

“Whatever you say”, Edward obeyed and made his way to his wardrobe. He only owned a single pair of black jeans, because frankly he preferred blue ones, and they were a bit tight on him, but they were certainly a lot better than the monstrous green glitter pants that matched his suit jacket.

“Why did you make me dress like this?” Ed sighed and glanced over at Kristen. The woman herself had chosen a much calmer look for herself; just a nice beige pencil skirt and a white blouse with details that perfectly color coordinated with the frame of her glasses.

“Because it’s fun”, Kristen said, running a hand across Edward’s back. “Oh. It’s shedding.” He looked at her hand, coated in green sparkle.

“At least you can spot me easily if I get lost in the crowd”, Ed joked dryly.

“We should get going”, Kristen grabbed a paper towel and cleaned up her hand to the best of her abilities. “Tom is already waiting downstairs. He rented that nice sport car just for us!” Ed couldn’t suppress a groan.

“ _Tom_ is coming?”

“Of course he is”, Kristen said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and opened the door, making her way out of the stuffed room.

“I thought he was still in Washington”, Ed muttered. He grabbed his phone and wallet from the desk before following the woman out.

“He has a weekend off”, Kristen explained. “He wanted to see some old friends. He arrived with James Gordon earlier today.”

“Great”, Edward responded with a fake smile.

Kristen had been right; Tom Dougherty was indeed waiting for them at the dormitory parking lot. He immediately cradled Kristen into his arms and gave her a sloppy kiss that made Ed shudder. While he had gotten over his stupid crush over Kristen within the last few months, he still couldn’t understand how she could be with a gross, annoying hunk like Dougherty.

“Wow, riddle boy’s gone wild”, Tom only now noticed they weren’t alone and looked at Ed with a snarky expression. Edward just smiled and focused on cracking his knuckles inside the jacket pockets.

“Isn’t he looking dapper?” Kristen asked, seemingly oblivious to the very sarcastic and condescending tone of her boyfriend.

“Maybe we should just go”, Tom changed the subject, apparently not wanting to oppose his girlfriend’s objectively incorrect opinion and patted the roof of his car. “Ain’t she a beauty?”

“Sure”, Ed said quickly, already halfway into climbing to the backseat. The car reeked of fake leather and something that he guessed to be pot. Just amazing. He ignored the couple still being very handsy on the outside of the car and closed the door with a bang. He was going to hate every single second of this night. He could feel it in his bones.

His suspicions turned correct the moment they walked in through the doors of Barbara Kean’s apartment. The immediate stench of booze, weed and sweat was enough to give Edward an instant headache. He doubted it would go away anytime soon. He ended up just sheepishly following in Kristen’s footsteps as Tom dragged her through the crowd. It was already bad enough to be the third wheel between his former crush and his former high school bully, but his mood dropped even further when they finally stopped in front of a small circle of people.

“You made it, Jim”, Dougherty pulled the shorter man into a bro hug, one of which James involuntarily returned. Ed glanced over the other two new people in his radar; a taller woman – one of which Kirsten seemed to be friends with – and a shorter, fairly interesting-looking man. He recognized the crooked nose and the pale skin immediately. Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, the King of Gotham University. They had never directly talked, but Ed found himself rather... intrigued by the gothic male. Something about the way Oswald acted, how blatantly he showered in his queerness and how he flourished in the attention, it made Ed nearly admire the other.

“Can I help you?”

He realized he had been staring at Oswald completely immobile for an extended amount of time. He felt a rush of blood on his neck and ears.

“I don’t know. Can you?” he asked and regretted it the moment Oswald’s face shifted. Surprisingly, instead of irritated he looked somewhat amused.

“You have weird friends, Jim”, Oswald said just as Dougherty finished the hug. Jim looked somewhat dishevelled, straightening his denim jacket with a huff.

“Oh. Ed”, Jim only now noticed the taller man.

“Hello, Jim”, Ed said with a polite smile. An awkward silence followed. Ed was pretty sure neither him nor Jim deemed one another as “friends”, like Oswald had described. Acquaintances at best.

“Should we go grab drinks?” Tom broke the silence, seeming desperate enough to even invite Edward along as soon as the awkward encounter would be over. The crowd generally agreed, but Oswald waved his hand dismissively.

“I have people to meet”, he gave a half-hearted reasoning. No one seemed too upset at the fact that the oddball wouldn’t be joining them. Well, one of the oddballs. Ed dreaded his existence as the group started to make their way over to the bar area. He lingered back, truly trying to find any excuse to not spend his night as the _fifth_ wheel between two couples.

“Ed, was it?” he heard a voice behind his back and turned around. Oswald was still there.

“Y-yes. Edward. Nygma”, he introduced himself with a stutter. He had no clue why his heart was making cartwheels when he looked down at Oswald’s pale green eyes. They looked more like an icy blue in the lighting of the room, but he knew they were green.

“Well, Eddie”, Ed blushed upon the nickname, “you don’t look like you wanna spend your night watching straight people eye fucking.” Edward could only nod in agreement although he didn’t really get behind the term “eye fucking”.

“Come with me”, Oswald offered a hand covered by a fingerless glove. Ed stared at it. The short nails coated in black nail polish. Slowly, he raised his own hand and took Oswald’s. The shorter man gave him a small smile, and Edward was surprised to notice that it wasn’t a malicious one. Maybe a little devious, but it genuinely seemed like Oswald was willing to spend time with him. He didn’t have time to weight the positives and negatives of joining Oswald’s questionable company before he was already getting dragged through the dancefloor by the man in question.

 


	2. cross my heart and hope to die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you can see, there are a ton of relationship tags in the description; just wanna say that nygmobblepot will obviously be the endgame here, but there will be a lot of tossing partners around once the booze starts taking effect ;P

Oswald knew his way around Barbara’s apartment, so it took him barely a minute to drag Edward to the opposite end of the apartment. It was slightly closed off from the rest of the party happening and was usually reserved for Barbara’s close friends and acquaintances. He slid the door open and entered the dimly lit room. As soon as Edward was through the door and it closed behind him, the noise desolated. Oswald hogged the nearest sofa and jumped on the soft couch. Ed sat awkwardly at the doorway, eyes glancing around the area. He did feel glad to be in a closed off space with less people and less noise, but he couldn’t help but feel like an outsider.

“You’re allowed to sit”, Oswald called on him and patted the couch next to him. “Do you want a drink? You don’t really look like a partier.”

“I have never been drunk”, Ed admitted, clumsily taking a seat near Oswald. The man laughed at him, but not with ill intent. Oswald looked Ed up and down, tapping his chin with his fingers.

“What’s with the disco ball look?” he asked bluntly. Ed felt the blush deepening on his face again.

“I don’t know”, he muttered. “Kristen made me wear it...”

“You’re Kringle’s friend, huh? She’s sweet. Well, actually she seems like a pretty tough cookie.”

“You’re friends?” Ed asked with disbelief. He had never heard Kristen talk about Oswald, neither did they look like they had been close at the earlier meeting. They hadn’t even greeted one another.

“She was in the same theatre group as I was when I was like sixteen”, Oswald shrugged. Their conversation was interrupted by the door opening again and a familiar bald man waltzing in, another male in tow.

“Goddamn”, Oswald said the moment he got a clear look at the guy following Zsasz. He was tall, probably nearing two meters, with black skin and abnormally silver hair in an interesting hairstyle. The man was bare muscle, and the studded leather vest left nothing to imagination. With his interest peaked, Oswald got up from the sofa and walked up to the other two.

“Where’d you find this gentleman?” Oswald asked and ran a cool hand across the man’s biceps that were peeking from underneath the unzipped vest. Victor grinned and put an arm around the other man’s.

“I dunno. It’s just my charm.” He grinned at the dark-skinned man, who took a sip of the milkshake he was holding and smirked back.

“So this is Penguin?” he asked Victor, looking Oswald up and down. He didn’t seem a smidge bothered by the cold fingers exploring his warm torso.

“The one and only”, Victor uttered while leaning in and grabbing the milkshake. He took a long sip with the straw and licked his lips contently.

“You already have Ivy and Alvarez; do you _really_ need a third option?” Oswald asked. “Why do you get all the gorgeous bastards anyway? You’re not even into dating.”

“Okay, I may be a slut, but we don’t have to call a bitch out on it”, Victor sounded slightly offended and leaned into his pal with a grin. “Wendell and I are just gonna share a milkshake.”

“I doubt the straw is the only thing you’ll be sucking tonight”, Oswald threw back and reluctantly let go of the tall man. Victor gave him a cheeky wink. The bald man’s gaze darted over to the couch behind Oswald and he looked at Edward, who was sitting on it, looking extremely uncomfortable.

“You got yourself a little treat right over there!” Zsasz exclaimed and made Oswald remember Edward’s existence as well. “Why you stealin’ my mans?”

“I need to warm that one up”, Oswald said quiet enough for Ed not to hear and tilted his head, observing the brunette. “Would you be a dear and get me a couple of drinks, Vicky?” He turned back to the other two only to catch them in a sloppy kiss. “Get a goddamn room”, he winced and began to return to the sofa.

“This _is_ a room”, he heard Zsasz’s voice behind him, but just rolled his eyes and left the two at it. He returned to the couch and smiled at Ed.

“Sorry”, he said, not sounding even slightly apologetic, and took a seat once more. Edward shook his head dismissively, trying to indicate that it was quite alright. In a few minutes Oswald had caught the attention of a waiter – yes, Barbara Queen had waiters in her parties – and the server arrived with an array of drinks in record time. The tray was placed on the coffee table in front of the sofa and Oswald was quick to down a shot or two while Edward just watched.

“Come on”, Oswald said after grabbing the third shot glass. “It’s not fun drinking by yourself.” He put the drink in Edward’s hand. “They’re not that strong, you’ll be fine, friend.”

“I’d rather not get drunk”, Ed muttered, but couldn’t resist those damn green eyes. He looked at the shot, looked at Oswald, and finally pinched his eyes shut, downing the glass in one gulp. It made him cough as it burned his throat. Other than that, the taste wasn’t actually as disgusting as he had anticipated. Oswald laughed at his initial reaction fondly.

Oswald switched from quick shots to a bigger glass of a colorful liquid. For some reason, Ed couldn’t get his eyes off Oswald as he sipped on the blue drink. The way his lips shone when they got wet, how his throat bopped up and down when he swallowed. It felt almost like a drug and Edward was starting to question whether Oswald had slipped something into his drink.

“You keep staring at me”, Oswald called him out. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I do love the attention. But I’d rather not monologue for the entire night. Tell me about yourself.”

“I’m not very interesting”, Edward admitted, fumbling with his glasses.

“What do you study? What’s your favorite animal? How many people have you kissed?” The randomness in the questions presented to him almost made Ed chuckle. He scratched his head and took a sip of an arbitrary yellow drink. Kind of tasted like lemonade, but he was positive nothing here came without alcohol.

“I do forensic science studies. I think my favorite animal is probably a cat? They’re nice, give you space, stay pretty quiet... Although I do love lizards too. Their bodies are fascinating, all the scales and the temperature. Did you know that some lizards can self-amputate their tails?” Ed realized he was going on a tangent, but Oswald was looking at him with an oddly interested look. “And, um, I’ve never kissed anyone”, he finished awkwardly and took another gulp of the drink to avoid further blabbering.

“Aww”, Oswald laughed a bit and squeezed Edward’s knee with a smirk. “Cats are nice, I’m more of a dog person though. Ironically, I’ve got a dog named Edward.”

“Wait, really?” Edward sputtered and looked at the other with incredulity.

“I like the name”, Oswald said defensively. “It’s cute.” Edward felt himself blushing again. He decided to blame it on room temperature. More of the yellow liquid quickly disappeared into his throat.

“I thought at this hour you’d be grinding on some frat boy, Pengu.” The voice coming from behind the couch slightly startled both of them, and they turned around to look at the person that had interrupted their banter. It turned out to be another bald man – Edward wondered if it was criteria in order to qualify as Oswald’s friend – but this one was much stockier and didn’t look nearly as kind as Victor Zsasz. “Yet here you are”, the man in question smiled sarcastically and walked closer, leaning on the sofa.

“It’s a pleasure to see you too, Butch”, Oswald smiled. Edward noticed the smile didn’t reach his cold green eyes. “I didn’t think you’d show now that Babs stole your girlfriend.” Butch’s fake smile was quick to fade, and he gripped Oswald’s shoulder with such a fast movement that it made Ed flinch a little bit.

“You should shut your pretty little beak before I do it for you”, Butch warned him, big face getting slightly redder.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Oswald tantalized.

“Leave the bird boy alone, hun.” Ed turned around and saw Barbara Kean herself standing at the doorway with another woman, much darker in complexion and dressed from head to toe in leather. Butch immediately let go of Oswald’s shoulder, almost as if he genuinely feared the blonde woman. Barbara smiled sweetly and made her way to the sofa, sitting on Oswald’s right side that was still empty. “No fighting in my party, boys”, she reminded and brushed a hand through Oswald’s raven locks.

“Just conversing, Babs”, Butch assured. Barbara’s smile was even faker than Butch’s. Ed was once again feeling slightly uncomfortable, much like he had when Dougherty had dragged him in front of the earlier trio. He didn’t like big groups of people in general, and especially hated to be around a big friend group where everyone seemed to know one another while he knew maybe one of the people. Oswald glanced over to him and noticed the discomfort.

“Everyone, this is Ed Nygma”, Cobblepot helped and gestured over him. Ed flushed as everyone’s attention turned to him. So many judging looks. He put on his best customer service smile and waved a little.

“Didn’t know you were into bottoms”, the tan woman said and took a seat in an armchair next to Barbara. Oswald shot a nasty glance at her.

“Didn’t know you were such a bitch”, he spewed back. “Oh wait, I did.”

“Barbara Kean”, the blonde lady interrupted the quarrel before it got out of hand and reached to shake Edward’s hand with a smile. Something about it indicated that he nearly pitied Ed. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

“Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t”, Ed nodded and shook her hand.

“This is Butch Gilzean”, Barbara pointed at the heavyset man still looming behind the couch, “and this is Tabitha Galavan”, another hand gestured over to the tan female. She nodded as her name was mentioned, looking rather uninterested in conversing with Nygma. She had pulled out her phone and was texting someone.

“Surprised to see that you’re not clinging to your brother”, Oswald said in the general direction of Tabitha, who glanced up from her phone and rolled her eyes.

“He’s not even here yet”, she responded. “What, do you miss Theo?”

“Theodore is the _last_ person I miss”, Oswald sputtered, already regretting of fueling the woman’s fire. Tabitha smirked. To Edward she bared high resemblance to a tigress ready to munch on a delicious bird.

“We should do something fun”, Barbara suggested and placed one of her long legs on top of the other one. Her exposed thighs rubbed against Oswald’s leg and for some reason Ed felt a slight bit of... something. Jealousy? That couldn’t be it.

“Yeah, I’m out”, Butch declined immediately and disappeared further into the dark room without further speech. Barbara didn’t look disappointed, and instead grabbed her own phone.

“I’ll see if people are around. There’s already a mosh pit starting to form in the living room so I’m sure the _crème de la crème_ would be thrilled to get out of there.”

Within a few minutes the people around them had about tripled. Edward’s head was spinning, and he wasn’t sure if it was because the booze was starting to get to him or was it simply the fact that he wasn’t used to hang around so many people. Barbara’s text had awakened quite the crowd of people, and Edward couldn’t understand how anyone had this many close friends. Hell, he could barely manage to deal with one or two buddies.

“New peeps, introduce yourselves to Eddie”, Oswald ordered and changed his position on the sofa, leaning slightly closer to Ed as they made room for one more person on the couch.

“I’m Ivy!” an orange-haired young woman exclaimed immediately and waved enthusiastically. She was sitting next to Zsasz, a hand draped across his shoulder, in a sparkly green mini dress. “Love your style, by the way”, she continued and gestured at Edward’s suit jacket. They truly looked like they had intentionally coordinated their outfits.

“Alvarez”, said a man sitting nearest to Edward when not counting Oswald. “But we’re not really strangers.” He was right; Ed was in fact familiar with Carlos Alvarez. They had multiple lectures together and Ed quite liked the man’s company. He was serious, fairly quiet and very hardworking. They sometimes studied together.

“Selina Kyle. Call me Cat”, Ed turned his head to look at a much younger-looking girl sitting right across the table from him. She had wild curly hair and was wearing a dress with multiple pockets on it. Edward highly doubted the girl was of drinking age, but she was still sipping on a martini.

“Bruce Wayne. Pleasure to meet you”, the brunette boy sitting right next to Selina on the loveseat introduced himself. He looked about the same age as her, so definitely too young to be there. That seemed to conclude all the people Ed had never seen before; alongside the new faces there of course were Barbara, Tabitha, Zsasz, the black guy Ed remembered to be called Wendell, and Oswald.

“Well ain’t that peachy”, Victor interrupted the conversation, if you could even call it that. “Babs said we’re here to have fun, so can we get on with it?” He slurped on a bright blue slushie he was holding and leaned into the sofa. Judged by the mumbling around the ring, everyone seemed to generally agree with the bald man’s statement. This was no tea party for middle-aged soccer moms; everyone was here for one reason which was to get wasted in good company.

“Let’s play spin the bottle”, Ivy suggested, already grabbing an empty glass bottle from the table.

“That game _hates_ me”, Oswald groaned, but still had the approving grin on his face.

“You mean it loves us, Ozzie”, Ivy said with a grin.

“How do you play?” Ed interrupted, pleading for guidance with his eyes. Of course, he knew the general idea of spin the bottle, but there were a million variations of the games you could play with that type of wheel of fortune.

“Usually we go for a truth or dare type of thing. If you refuse to answer or do what the people ask you, you gotta take a shot”, Oswald said while making room on the table for the bottle. Everyone had brought some drinks with them, so the coffee table was already starting to get a little crowded.

“Who asks the questions?” Ed inquired.

“Whoever comes up with one the fastest”, Alvarez lent a helping hand by grabbing his can of beer from the table to make some space. “You’ll get the hang of it.”

Edward almost hoped he didn’t. For some reason he had a sneaking suspicion that he would greatly regret ever stepping a foot into this group of friends, but it was far too late to walk away now. He was neatly nestled between the armrest of the couch and Oswald’s midsection. Not a bad place to be stuck in, but the company was the thing that terrified Ed. Oswald got done shifting the drinks around and Ivy placed the bottle horizontally on the glass table. Everyone seemed to shift their attention to the activity at hand – even Tabitha put the phone back into her pocket and leaned forward.

“Y’all ready?” Ivy asked with a wide smile. “Ready or not, here it comes!” she shrieked and put the bottle into a spin.


	3. your love's a fucking drag

Edward watched as the bottle spun around on the desk. Round, and round, and round... until it came to a stop, pointing it’s cork on Oswald. The raven-haired man groaned loudly and threw his hands in the air.

“What did I fucking tell you?!” he shouted and deflated into the couch, looking quite unamused.

“Ozzie has the best luck in wheels of fortune”, Barbara grinned and pushed the smaller man gently with her shoulder.

“The _worst_ luck”, Oswald corrected and sighed, straightening his back. He clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. “I’ll go for a truth. Can’t be bothered to raise my ass, to be honest.” The group fell silent for a moment, everyone’s brains trying to come up with a cheeky or embarrassing question for the man to answer. Ed managed to open his mouth first.

“Why does everyone call you Penguin?” he asked, curiously looking at Oswald with a slight tilt of his head.

“Boooooooring”, Selina booed. Ed got a little flustered. She was probably right; the question was pretty innocent in everyone’s eyes. Oswald, however, didn’t seem to mind, and instead gave him a small smile.

“I broke my leg on the first year of college. Like, literally in the first party I attended”, he explained. “I couldn’t afford the hospital pill, so I was left with a broken ankle. I had to waddle everywhere and someone”, he shot a cunning look at Zsasz who smiled brightly, “decided that it would be hilarious to compare me to a penguin.”

“The beak and the black and white aesthetic don’t help your case”, Tabitha joined in with a grin.

“Fine!” Oswald was starting to sound pissed. “Maybe my nose is a bit crooked.”

“It looks fine”, Ed assured, surprising himself with the sudden amount of confidence. Oswald looked at him for a second before smirking.

“He also has a huge penguin plushie he sleeps with”, Zsasz exposed a secret and made Oswald huff.

“Let’s move on”, he suggested and reached forward to give the bottle another spin.

The next few rounds went by with laughter and quickly disappearing drinks. Poor Bruce got the bottle on him twice in a row and had to give Selina a “seductive lap dance”, like Zsasz had put it. Edward noticed that Victor was the clear king of the game; the bottle hadn’t landed on him a single time, yet he was nearly single-handedly handing out questions and dares at all times. Tabitha had refused to let anyone go through her search history from the past 24 hours and downed a huge shot glass in one gulp. Edward found himself beginning to relax; as people started getting tipsy and were focusing more on the embarrassing tasks their friends had to do, no one paid much attention to Ed. That was, until Alvarez – who had admitted on receiving nudes from Jim Gordon on his first year at the campus – spun the bottle and it landed on Edward.

“Finally!” Barbara was quick to sink her teeth into the situation with a menacing smile. “The baby gets to join in. Truth or dare?”

Edward contemplated it for a moment. “Truth”, he finally said, slightly terrified of the possibility that Zsasz would make him give a lap dance to someone. Oswald was already deep in thought.

“Tell us about your wildest make-out session”, Zsasz was once again ahead of everyone, and leaned forward, black eyes excitedly eyeing Edward up and down. Ed flushed red and took a sip of his drink.

“I’ve never kissed anyone”, he muttered – why had he already said that twice within an hour? Victor’s face fell like a kid who had just seen a huge roll of cabbage on their plate instead of chocolate pudding.

“That doesn’t count, then! Someone, ask something else!”

“That’s not fair”, Ed insisted, still feeling how incredibly hot his face was. The others seemed to disagree.

“If you had to have your first make-out session right here and now”, Wendell joined the conversation, petting Zsasz’s bald head like he was a puppy, “who would you choose out of the players?”

“I like your style”, Barbara hissed excitedly and tried to catch a look of Edward’s face despite Oswald sitting between the two of them. Edward was almost willing to just grab a shot glass and not answer the question. He began thinking, however. Perhaps it was the alcohol pulsing through his veins or the high of being around such a wild group of people, but he decided to keep the glass on the table.

“Bold of you to assume any of you are up to my standards”, he spewed out before he could control his tongue. Oswald had taken a sip of booze and it flew out of his nose, sending him into a coughing fit. Ed’s confident, maybe even cheeky demeanor immediately crumbled, and he grabbed Oswald’s shoulder worriedly.

“I- I’m fin-e”, he coughed and cackled at the same time. He caught a look of Wendell’s face and burst into even a bigger laughter. The man looked like Ed had just slapped him right across the face.

“Woah, the beanpole’s got _standards_ ”, Tabitha said with a condescending tone. “Is that why you’re still a virgin or is it that goofy face of yours?”

“Tabby... Don’t be so mean”, Barbara patted her thigh, but was still smirking widely. Oswald had slightly calmed down, but his eyes were watering a little. Ed rushed to offer him a tissue he happened to have in his pocket.

“Remind me to not piss you off”, Oswald said between giggles and wiped his eyes, smudging his eye makeup a little bit. Ed still thought he looked breathtaking.

“Answer the question, Leprechaun”, Wendell demanded. His voice was warm, however, and Ed knew the words weren’t meant to offend.

“I guess...”, he looked around, pretending to think long and hard even though the answer had been in his head ever since he met the man sitting next to him. “I would pick Oswald, because he’s been kind to me, and I don’t think he would kill me if I accidentally bit his tongue or something.” Oswald’s grin immediately turned into a smug smile and he draped his relatively short arms on the backrest of the sofa.

“The freaky bastard would probably like it”, Selina stated.

“...Guilty”, Oswald admitted and grinned. “Spin the bottle, Eddie.” Ed obeyed and did something none of the others had managed during their playtime; the bottleneck pointed at Zsasz.

“Goddamn, finally!” Ivy shrieked excitedly and tugged on Victor’s arm.

“Do your worst, peasants”, the bald man grinned and leaned forward with great interest. No one even asked whether Victor preferred a truth or a dare; they had played with him many times and the man had not picked truth even once.

“I want you to take off Alvarez’s shirt with your teeth. Hands tied behind your back.” Everyone looked at Bruce either with surprise or immense excitement. Well, everyone except Alvarez.

“Why me?!” he groaned and slammed his face with his palm.

“Because”, Bruce shrugged. Zsasz was already walking around the table, trying to find something he could tie his hands with.

“You didn’t happen to grab any handcuffs tonight, did you?” he asked as he passed Tabitha. The woman shook her head with an amused expression.

“Tonight?” Ed couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “Do you usually have a pair, then?”

“Someone’s got to”, Tabitha shrugged.

“Tabby’s a dominatrix in her spare time”, Selina tittered. Tabitha gave her a dirty look, but it looked more like an exchange between two loving sisters than anything else.

“How else am I supposed to keep the boys in check?” she said with a slanted smile on her lips. It was probably the gentlest Ed had seen the woman so far. Victor interrupted their conversation by returning, holding a necktie.

“Who’d you steal that from?” Ivy asked and tilted her head.

“I dunno, some dude”, Zsasz shrugged and walked over to Alvarez. “Will you do the hono-ooooh my god why do you have a button-up shirt?” Everyone’s eyes turned to properly look at Alvarez. It was true; he was indeed wearing a nice, brown shirt with at least six buttons.

“You can tie a cherry stem with your tongue, Vicky. You’ll be fine”, Ivy warbled and nudged Victor’s butt with her foot. Alvarez grabbed the tie from Zsasz with great distaste and spun him around. He tied the man’s hands together behind his back like Bruce had ordered, looking rather unenthusiastic about the upcoming event. Zsasz, however, was snickering manically.

Ed had never thought he would get into a situation where he’d be watching a man try to open buttons with his teeth and tongue in front of about ten other people, yet here he fucking was. It didn’t help that Alvarez was sitting close to Ed, who got to experience the slow reveal of the man’s hairy chest from the best possible angle. “Hih ih hahheh han hi houht”, Zsasz groaned with drool falling from the edge of his mouth.

“What?” Bruce asked. He had moved closer to watch the humiliation he was putting the man into. Ed figured the brunette was quite pissed over the whole lap dance scenario. Zsasz slurped up some of his own spit as he let go of the fourth button on Alvarez’s shirt.

“This is harder than I thought”, he repeated.

“And way less sexy than I thought it would be”, Oswald said with a sigh. He had draped over the backrest and was watching the show with his chin resting on Edward’s shoulder. Ed shuddered as the warm breath crept around his neck. “Give up, Zsaszy.”

“Hell no!” Zsasz shouted and aggressively returned to the activity at hand. Another sigh could be heard, but this time it was Tabitha.

“Can we like play a round while those two finish?” she asked impatiently. Everyone seemed to generally agree, so Tabby reached for the bottle and gave it a spin. It landed on Edward and both Oswald and Barbara immediately turned to him like a pair of piranhas.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this while those two are doing this, but dare”, Ed said, side-eyeing Alvarez after hearing a loud slurping sound coming near them. The brown-skinned man looked like he was ready to throw someone out of the nearest window. What a fall that would be.

“With Zsasz... occupied... maybe we actually have a chance”, Barbara grinned and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“Make him like suck a dick or something, I dunno”, Selena said, twirling a curl around her finger. Edward’s face immediately went back to red. And he had _just_ gotten it to a natural color...

“Please don’t”, he pleaded.

“We’re not that mean”, Oswald patted his shoulder with a smooth smile. “But you aren’t gonna get off so easy.”

“I dare you to kiss Oswald”, Ivy jumped in with a smile that was way too cruel for her innocent-looking face. Edward didn’t think he could get any redder, yet here he was. He looked at Oswald, who was looking right back at him. Almost... waiting? Truth be told, Ed wanted to kiss him. At the moment he really wanted nothing more than to know what that lipstick-tainted skin tasted like. He felt everyone’s eyes on them – he was pretty sure even Zsasz had forgotten about the last button, dangling right around Alvarez’s private parts, and was watching with eager eyes. Everything froze, just for a moment, and Ed looked at Oswald’s lips. Would they taste like booze? Maybe the lipstick had a slight taste to it?

He never found out, because he pussied out. After what felt like an eternity of them just staring at one another – Oswald’s face had somehow gotten a lot closer –, Edward breathed in deep like he had been drowning and turned away from Oswald. He grabbed the nearest filled shot glass and emptied it in one go, nearly choking as it burned his throat.

“Oh no...”, Ivy said, voice small. Everyone else’s reactions seemed to differ from slight disappointment to straight up laughter. Ed refused to look at Oswald directly. The raven-haired man didn’t say anything, just leaned back into his previous position and pulled his legs up onto the couch. As Ed reached to spin the bottle again, he did catch a glimpse of Oswald’s face. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed just how disappointed he looked. Maybe even a little bit hurt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ed is a dumb baby.................. ozzie just wanted to smooch >:(


	4. burn my lungs and curse my eyes

The next couple of rounds were just a haze to Oswald. Zsasz had finally finished unbuttoning Alvarez’s shirt and the man was now sitting next to Ed shirtless – his reasoning being that he didn’t want to feel Victor’s spit on him at all times. Selina was dared to act like a cat for three rounds straight and was purring on Bruce’s lap after downing a massive glass of booze to make herself braver. They had gotten their first make-out session when Tabitha had nearly devoured Barbara’s face as a dare. The blonde had not seemed to mind one bit.

Oswald was entranced by his own thoughts. More specifically he kept glancing at Edward, who had stayed pretty quiet and was just sipping on a drink. He couldn’t get his mind around Ed’s thought process. He had rather downed a shot than pecked Oswald on the lips. Was Oswald that repulsive to the brunette? Maybe he was a bit sweaty and his makeup was messy, but he wasn’t that gross. Right? Just as Selina hopped off of Bruce, the bottle landed on Oswald.

“I guess I’ve been lucky so far”, he admitted. “Dare. Let’s make this fun.”

“Pick anyone out of us and give head”, Barbara said with a cunning smile. Oswald rolled his eyes so hard it was painful. He had suspected this was coming. Ivy was snickering at his expression.

“Even to a girl?” she asked.

“As if Ozzie picked a girl when there are...”, Barbara paused her sentence and counted the men in the rink, “ _five_ wonderful dicks to choose from!”

“No one is touching my dick”, Bruce immediately said and closed his spread-out legs as an indicator.

“Four”, Barbara sighed with a crooked smile. Oswald’s eyes darted over to Edward for a split second. He refused to return the look and pretended to be very interested in the straw in his glass.

“Pants off, Victor”, Oswald commanded, eyes still on Ed. He saw Nygma’s shoulders physically relax.

“Aw man!” Ivy said, sounding rather disappointed.

“What?” Oswald spat and got up from the sofa. He walked up to Zsasz who had started unbuckling his belt with an excited grin. “Were you hoping to be the first one to suck him tonight?” Ivy didn’t respond, just crossed her arms with a small smile and scooted further away from Victor on the sofa as Oswald got on his knees.

Edward really, really, _really_ wanted to get up and walk away from the situation. His head was hurting again and the last thing he wanted to see right now was Oswald’s lips around some other guy’s cock. Yet that was exactly what was happening in front of him. Oswald’s head bopping up and down, up, and down again. It looked like he didn’t have any type of gag reflexes. Barbara and Ivy were cheering him on, while Alvarez was watching the events with a clear expression of jealousy. Tabitha had grabbed her phone again and Edward was pretty sure the woman was filming Oswald. Bruce and Selina were focusing on something on Bruce’s phone.

It only took Zsasz about four minutes and twenty-five seconds – Ed had counted – to groan in pleasure and fill Oswald’s mouth. The raven-haired man swallowed every last bit of seed and pulled back once his mouth was empty, licking his lips. The lipstick had smeared even more. Ed wanted to touch his face and gently swipe away the mess with his thumb. Barbara clapped, laughing maliciously as Oswald sat down between her and Ed.

“You’re so fucking weak”, Oswald said to Victor. It didn’t seem like Zsasz cared much about anything right now. Edward was glad he had at least stuck his member back into his jeans.

“You’re just too good”, Victor said slowly and leaned into the backrest of his couch with a content smirk.

“I don’t know if I should be honored to have the title of Best Dick-sucker”, Oswald pondered out loud and reached to spin the bottle. Edward put his drink down and leaned back himself, already thinking about a way to excuse himself for the night.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

Edward felt his blood go cold and he instinctively screamed himself upon hearing the sudden sound coming from behind him. He jumped in the air and landed on Oswald’s lap, subconsciously grabbing the smaller man’s shoulders in look for support. He turned around with a horrified expression, staring into a green pair of eyes that looked back at him from behind the couch.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Bruce shouted, clutching on his chest with a hand. The man who had been hiding behind the couch emerged from the floor, barely being able to stand straight from laughing so hard. His hair was orange and his mouth wider than anyone’s Edward had ever seen.

“You shoulda seen your face!” the man cackled, slamming his hand on the couch with a wheeze. He wiped his eyes, filled with tears of pure joy. Everyone in the group was staring at the three of them.

“Valeska”, Oswald groaned. Ed could feel how hard Oswald’s heart was pumping on his chest.

“Pengy, heyyy”, the ginger man responded and attacked Oswald with a hug. It was probably the most awkward hug known to man, because not only was the man behind the sofa, but Oswald’s back was turned to him and his hands were occupied with holding Edward’s trembling body.

“Let... go... of me”, Oswald struggled, being smothered by not one but two men much larger than himself. Valeska let go of Cobblepot, still wearing a huge grin on his face. His eyes shifted around the crowd momentarily before landing on Bruce.

“Ooooh, Brucey!” the man gasped and immediately scrambled to get closer to the brunette.

“Jerome, no-“, Bruce tried when the ginger stuck himself on the loveseat between him and Selina. The couch was far too small for the three of them, with Jerome nearly sitting on top of Bruce. Ed was still shaking slightly, trying to calm his poor heart. He also begun to realize he was still sitting on Oswald’s lap.

“Hey, you alright?” Oswald patted Edward on the back, ignoring how his hand emerged completely filled with green sparkles.

“I-“, Ed stuttered and climbed off Oswald. A blush was once again creeping up his neck, heating his ears. “I’m okay.”

“Meet Jerome Valeska”, Oswald rolled his eyes with a dry smile and gestured over to the ginger man who was cuddling up to Bruce as they spoke.

“Hey, green man, how’s it hanging?” Jerome asked and waved his hand with a smirk.

“Splendid”, Ed muttered.

“Ah fuck”, Oswald started to pay attention to his surroundings. He looked down at his shorts that were soaked in booze and glitter. He assumed his hand, holding a shot glass, had jerked when Edward cradled him.

“I’m sorry”, Edward said, flustered.

“Don’t sweat it”, Oswald assured. “They’re black and dirty anyway.”

“Ozzie’s used to having his pants wet”, Barbara teased with a smile. The woman didn’t see phased by the fact that her white couch was now stained orange around Oswald’s thigh.

“What are we playing?” Jerome interrupted before Oswald had the chance to throw anything back at Barbara. The man had draped his arms around Bruce and Selina like the three of them were besties, but something in both Selina and Bruce’s expressions told the true nature of their relationship. Ed wasn’t sure he liked this Jerome Valeska character.

“Truth or dare, although I was thinking we could switch to another game”, Ivy responded with a smile. She was probably the only one who hadn’t even blinked when Jerome had jumped from behind the couch. Perhaps all gingers were telepathically connected, Ed thought.

“How about strip poker?” Victor said with a lazy grin. He leaned on his right and almost fell off the sofa. “Hey! Where’d Wendell go?!”

“Oh no”, Alvarez said sarcastically. “Your milkshake man walked off while you were busy getting blown by Penguin.”

“Unbelievable”, Victor shook his head with an offended expression. He patted the recently deserted place on the couch next to him. Alvarez stood up from his chair and took a seat next to his boyfriend.

“You only wanna play strip poker because you have like five layers of clothing”, Selina complained. Tabitha, however, had a smile on her face.

“One must come prepared”, she said.

“I literally have ONE piece of fabric around me”, Selina squealed and crossed her arms. “I’m just gonna watch.”

“Pussy”, Victor said. “Does anyone have cards?”

Edward truly wondered why he hadn’t walked out the door yet when Bruce started shuffling the card stack. He glanced around everyone circling the table; Victor and Tabitha were definitely the two most dressed people present, whereas Selina and Ivy only had one-piece dresses. Edward counted that he had nine pieces of clothing total, if one counted the separate socks and shoes as well as his glasses. He couldn’t help but count Oswald’s, too. Jacket, shirt, shorts, fishnets, shoes, underwear. Seven.

Turns out Oswald had the worst of luck in all party games. He had already lost three rounds in a row and was sitting on the sofa without shoes or a jacket, looking rather pissed. Everyone else was still fully clothed and giggling giddily. Edward was starting to feel confident in his own abilities. While poker was partly based on luck, it was also a strategy game, and that was his strong suit. He easily got a top three hand in every round. The fourth round ended with Oswald once again ending up as the loser.

“Gaaahh!” he slammed his cards on the table and chugged down a glass of liquor. “I fucking hate all of you.”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t like to be naked”, Tabitha said. “You’re probably losing on purpose.”

“Pengy’s got a nice little body anyway”, Jerome grinned gleefully.

“I’m gonna staple your mouth shut one day”, Oswald said and looked at his own body. “Oh, for fuck’s sakes, shirt already?”

“Strip, strip, strip”, Victor demanded, Ivy joining in to the mantra with a grin. Oswald thought silently for a while before grabbing the corners of his t-shirt.

“Make it sexy”, Barbara instructed. Oswald obeyed with the best of his abilities. Ed would have been glad that he wasn’t blushing as much as before, but it backfired and instead the blood ran straight into his crotch when Oswald slid the loose-fitted shirt off his slender body. Edward didn’t know what he had expected, but it definitely exceeded all expectations. Oswald was skinny, maybe even dangerously so, and his skin was pale and smooth. Only a few freckles were visible on his white skin, around his shoulders and pointy collarbones.

“Looks like I came in at the right time.”

Ed jumped a little at the voice – it had been completely silent, almost like everyone was just holding their breaths to enjoy the show before their eyes. He quickly darted his eyes away from Oswald’s nipples and looked at the man who had entered the room. Oswald had thrown the shirt behind the couch with a smug smile, but it immediately vanished when he saw the man.

“Hey, Theo”, Tabitha greeted him with a small smirk. Ed saw her sliding her phone back into her pocket and couldn’t help but wonder if she had texted the man to arrive right then and there.

“Oh, Theo! So nice to see you”, Barbara smiled brightly and got up from the sofa to give the man a kiss and a hug. Edward didn’t know the man, he had never seen him, but Oswald seemed to be quite familiar. His face had turned into a warm shade of pink and he was already putting his leather jacket back on to hide his naked torso.

“Oh, don’t do that”, the man introduced as Theo said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. His voice was warm and low, but something about him made Edward uncomfortable. He walked up to the couch and stole the seat that had been previously been Barbara’s. Right next to Oswald. “I don’t mind a bit of skin”, he said with a low voice and ran his hand through Oswald’s hair. Oswald slapped it off and scooted closer to Edward.

“Fuck you, Galavan”, he spat the man’s name out like it was a curse. So _this_ was Theodore Galavan, Ed realized. Tabitha’s brother. The one Oswald had mentioned earlier. Edward understood Cobblepot’s distaste for a man.

“So cold, as usual”, Theo sighed somberly and draped his arm behind Oswald. “Don’t let me interrupt”, he raised his head with a bright smile. “Let us continue the game.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so jerome and theo make their appearance!   
> next chapter will hopefully go more into oswald and theo's relationship ;)


	5. i taste you on my lips and i can't get rid of you

To the outsider’s eye, their game seemed to continue like it had previously, despite the appearance of Valeska and Galavan. Edward, however, noticed that something had shifted in the overall mood around them. They were still joking, chatting, playing, but something was missing. Ed came to the realization that it was indeed Oswald. He glanced over to the smaller man, trying his best not to get caught. He was holding his cards with an uninterested, somewhat irritated expression, while hugging one of his knees. He was quiet, which was a prominent difference in of itself. Ed’s eyes darted above Oswald’s head where Theo Galavan’s face was looming. The man hadn’t moved from Barbara’s seat, so the woman was now seated on Tabitha’s lap.

“Let’s change the rules”, Oswald said after the fifth round (Bruce had lost and loosened off one of his shoes). “This is gonna take the whole fucking night if we keep this up.”

“Do you have somewhere to be?” Theo asked. Edward wondered how anyone’s voice could be so buttery smooth yet so cunning at the same time.

“Penguin’s pissed cause he has to wait for an excuse to take his pants off”, Tabitha seemed to have the habit of talking about people like they weren’t present, despite Oswald sitting just two seats over from her.

“That’s a good idea, Ozzie!” Ivy interrupted, clearly trying to soften the moment after seeing Oswald’s facial expression. “Let’s switch to fast mode; everyone but the winner of the round has to take off an item of clothing.”

“Oh, _hell_ yes”, Victor agreed with a smirk. “Me and my three shirts are so ready.” Edward wasn’t sure he particularly liked the direction the game was going.

He quickly changed his opinion from “not being sure” to “being very sure”. Before Theo had joined them, usually either Edward, Alvarez or Victor had won the rounds, but either Galavan was cheating or just incredibly talented at poker, because he won three rounds in a row. Ivy was doing the worst out of all of them. She had surprised everyone by sliding off her underwear on her first loss and then borderline cheated by removing her earrings one by one. The short dress was struggling to hold everything underneath of itself and Edward was trying to think of anything but what was behind the green fabric.

Ed’s calculations on Oswald had turned out to be incorrect, because not only was he able to remove his leather jacket twice, he also stole Ivy’s earring strategy. He was hugging his knees more prominently now that he no longer had a shirt on, and Ed tried to figure out if it was because Oswald was feeling cold or if he simply felt uncomfortable being shirtless in Galavan’s presence. Edward, despite having gotten rid of his jacket and shoes, was still feeling uncomfortably hot. Which was why he had increased his alcohol intake within the three rounds quite a bit. His head was throbbing like he was having a hangover already, but at the same time he felt giddy, giggling at nearly every little comment anyone said during the rounds.

Theo won the eighth round to absolutely nobody’s surprise and got Ivy to squeal in discomfort. “Noooooo”, she tweeted while she came to the dooming realization that she’d have to take off her dress.

“One more round and you’re the loser”, Victor grinned widely, watching Ivy descend from the skimpy mini dress grudgingly. The ginger woman quickly grabbed Victor’s jacket and covered the lower part of her body, blushing. Edward was glad about the gesture. He didn’t necessarily mind a naked woman – which bisexual guy would have? – but Ivy’s squirming made him uncomfortable, too.

“Hey, Ozzie is cheating!” Barbara called Oswald’s immobility out as she chucked her pantyhose on the floor. Everyone turned to look at the pale man, who hadn’t even attempted to shed any piece of clothing.

“Oooooh, pants time!” Victor shouted with great delight.

“No”, Oswald refused, grasping to his knees. Zsasz made grabby hands at him and winked.

“Come on, Pengy, show that cute ass of yours”, said Jerome, recently gone shirtless much to Bruce’s displeasure.

“I will shove these cards up your anus”, Oswald muttered. It seemed like no one was going to let this slide, however, since he had already technically cheated once with the jacket, so he slowly stood up and very unwillingly slid off his ripped pair of shorts. Edward hid his face behind a big glass of booze, trying not to ogle at the fishnet-covered skin. Victor cheered loudly and Theo let out a low whistle.

“Still the thong type, hm?” he asked as Oswald sat back down, face red and shoulders a shade of pink. Ed hadn’t even realized, but the man was right. He had expected to see a pair of (probably black) boxers, but his whole ass was bare excluding the fishnet tights.

“Still the “not knowing how to shut my abnormally big mouth” type?” Oswald said, words so sharp they could cut diamonds.

“I don’t think my mouth is that big?” Theo responded, grabbing his jaw. “What did you use as a measuring tool? Your di-“

“ENOUGH!” Oswald shrieked so loudly it startled everybody. “I’m done with this stupid goddamn game!”

“How’s about we wrap it up?” Victor suggested with an apologetic smile. He had probably noticed how uncomfortable all of this was making Oswald. Edward thanked the gods that they could put an end to this before he had to take his shirt off. A general sound of agreement scattered around the group. Oswald said nothing, simply hugged his knees again, looking like he had just sucked on a lemon.

“I shall officially declare Ivy Pepper as the loser! Or the winner, in my eyes”, Zsasz raised his hands with a dirty wink. “And I shall declare MYSELF as the winner seeing as I didn’t even have to take my earring off.”

“Actually”, Theo interrupted, “I think _I_ won, considering I’m still fully dressed.” A cheeky smile.

“But you only joined in halfway”, Barbara defended Zsasz with a smile. “Let’s call it a draw, shall we, gents?” Theo nodded obediently, shortly followed by a resigned sigh by Zsasz.

“Well that was fun while it lasted”, Ivy was sliding her dress back on as she spoke. “Does anyone wanna play anymore games?”

“I’m gonna call it quits for tonight”, Alvarez announced while tugging his shirt back on. It was still slightly slimy after Zsasz and it made him visibly cringe.

“Aww man, I didn’t even get to suck your dick”, Victor sounded so genuinely disappointed it made Edward laugh out loud.

“Maybe I’ll let you if you join me in the dorms”, Alvarez suggested and raised his hand to pull Victor up from the couch.

“This is discrimination against gingers”, Ivy complained when Zsasz complied in an instant.

“You’re free to join”, Alvarez shrugged. Edward truly wondered what the hell their relationship was like. It seemed like Alvarez was Victor’s boyfriend, but Ivy was also his girlfriend, and Alvarez didn’t seem to have any kind of emotional bond to the woman.... Love is so weird, Ed thought. He couldn’t even get a singular partner while some people were hogging multiple.

Jerome also got up from his respective couch, which emitted a loud sigh of relief from Bruce. “I can’t feel my thigh...”, the brunette complained, shaking his leg that had gone asleep while being under the ginger man’s weight.

“It’s been _so_ much fun, ladies and gents”, Jerome declared as he pulled his shirt back on, “but alas, all good things must come to an end. I’m afraid I have errands to run.”

“At one am?” Tabitha asked after checking the time from her phone. “Have fun, clown.”

“One am?!” Edward shouted louder than had been his intention.

“Aww, is it your bedtime?” Selina asked while buckling the strap of her high heel back in place.

“I was just surprised, that’s all”, Ed felt slightly flustered. He had jolted up upon hearing the time and his head was now spinning. The room seemed much more saturated it had previously. Tabitha lit up a smoke and hummed. She begun chatting with her brother about something, but Oswald no longer cared and instead stood up, grabbing his shorts from the ground. He still looked pissed off and hadn’t said a word since the screaming.

“You gonna stay here?” he asked and looked at Ed after getting his shirt on.

“I- I’d love to join you if you want. Company.” Edward wasn’t sure if he had actually used the word ‘love’ just now, but he was hoping he hadn’t. Oswald pulled a wry smile.

“It’d be a federal crime to leave you alone in that state.”

“In what state? I’m peachy!” Edward assured and stood up, immediately tripping over as the nausea took over. Oswald managed to catch him before he could crash into the glass table full of empty bottles and glasses.

“Woah there”, Theo had noticed the situation and also gotten up from the couch. He grabbed Ed by the shoulders and held him up straight.

“I can manage just fine, thank you”, Oswald gritted his teeth.

“You’re small. This beanpole’s going to crash you.”

“ _I_ can manage just fine”, Ed wrenched Theo’s hands off and backed off, instead leaning against Oswald slightly since his head was still spinning. It almost felt like he wasn’t even wearing his glasses even though he could feel the frame on his face.

“Take it easy. Have some aspirin in the morning, vomit if you got to”, Galavan instructed, sounding awfully kind.

“How unlike you to care about other human beings”, Oswald spat on the ground in front of Theo’s polished shoes. “Come on, Ed, we’re leaving.” He snatched his sneakers from the ground and turned around. Edward felt his hand in Oswald’s. It brought a small smile on his face.

“I care about you, Oswald”, Theo said after them, but Oswald was too occupied on dragging Ed the hell out of there to turn back and bicker.

Somehow – Ed had been distracted by the tingly sensation in his hand whenever Oswald’s skin brushed against his – they found their way into a balcony. A pair of teens were making out in the corner, but Oswald barked them out and they ran off almost immediately. Oswald sighed long and deep and let go of Edward’s hand. The cool breeze brushed on Ed’s face and he leaned against the rail of the balcony, breathing in the fresh air. He hadn’t even realized how disgusting it had smelled in the private lounge area only a few minutes earlier.

Oswald lit up a smoke and took a drag, also leaning against the rail right next to Edward. Ed turned to look at the man. He was glad he was holding the railing because he could have passed out right then and there over how pretty the other was. The balcony’s lighting was very dim, and it was pitch black outside, but he could make out the prominent side profile in the dark. He adored Oswald’s facial features in silence for a long time. The crook of his nose, the long eyelashes coated in mascara, the high cheekbones, the messy hair.

“Can I ask you something?” Edward realized he was speaking despite not telling his mouth to do so.

“Mm?” Oswald hummed, cigarette between his lips. He didn’t look at Edward, but even in his delirious, drunken state the brunette could see something was bothering Cobblepot.

“What happened between you and Theo?” Ed asked. “I mean. You looked ready to bite him back there. Which I would have loved to see.” Blabbering was a terrible habit of his and it didn’t seem like even the alcohol was able to get rid of it. Oswald stayed quiet, but his brows had furrowed a bit. After a minute or so he finally responded.

“We used to be together”, he revealed and threw the rest of his cigarette down the balcony. The wind caught it and it floated downwards, disappearing into the darkness.

“Like... as a couple?”

“Yeah. Something like that”, Oswald sighed. “It was during my first year of college. I was dumb. And young.”

“Did you have a bad breakup?” Ed asked.

“Everything was pretty good for the first few months. We met at that party where I broke my leg and he helped me back into the dorms. I fell head over heels for him. Literally.” Oswald’s green eyes had closed as he spoke, almost as if it was easier to converse without seeing Edward’s face.

“Then, soon after Christmas break, I caught him in the middle of making out with Sofia Falcone.” Edward’s hazy eyes widened. He knew Sofia Falcone. Then again, who wouldn’t have? The girl’s dad owned half of Gotham. It was a surprise the woman hadn’t been in the party today, chilling in the glamour lounge with the rest of Barbara’s besties.

“I screamed at him and told him to never talk to me again”, Oswald opened his eyes and looked as Ed. There was a somber smile on his face, but his eyes were cold as ice. “And that’s it. The end.”

“I’m so sorry about that”, Edward said genuinely.

“That’s why I don’t do the whole dating thing anymore”, Oswald said and stretched his arms like a cat, emitting a small yawn. “Easier to just fuck with no feelings, you know? No strings attached.”

Ed felt something pull on his heartstrings. Oswald was not interested in dating. “I’ve never dated anyone, so no, I wouldn’t know.” Edward’s tone was harsher than he had anticipated, but Oswald didn’t seem too phased. He just looked at Edward, face blank.

“I find it hard to believe someone that cute had managed to stay single for... how many years?”

“Twenty-one”, Ed said quietly, trying to ignore the voice in his head screaming “ _he called you cute!”_ “People don’t like me”, he let out. “I’m always the weirdo. The outcast. My interests are odd, and I don’t have anything in common with my peers. When other kids went to football practice after school or hung out with their friends, I stayed inside and cut up dead birds.” He realized how openly he was rambling but was in too deep to stop.

“You’re the first person like, ever, to consciously want to spend time with me.”

“You’re interesting”, Oswald said and tilted his head. “A little weird, yeah. But who isn’t? This is Gotham, baby.”

Edward didn’t know what hit him, but he did realize Oswald’s face had moved much closer. Before he knew it, he already pressed his lips against Oswald’s. A small, sudden sound came out of the smaller man’s mouth, but it suffocated into Ed’s lips. The kiss was shy at first, Edward truly didn’t know what he was doing, but Oswald took the lead and touched Ed’s cheek softly, pulling him in deeper. Neither of them wanted to break the kiss, but Edward had to pull back in order to not pass out from asphyxia. They panted against one another, foreheads touching, eyes hungrily exploring one another’s faces.

“You taste like cherry cola and smoke”, Ed whispered with lidded eyes. He had finally gotten the answer to his question. His glasses had drooped and were resting against Oswald’s nose. Oswald chuckled quietly and pressed a smaller kiss on his lips.

“You taste like perfection”, he breathed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they got there in the end!!!!!!!!!


	6. just one more hit and then we're through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just a stupid drabble cause i had no idea how to move the situation away from the party and into the bedroom lmaooo. i promise they'll fuck in the next one xoxo

If someone had told Edward he’d end the night by drunkenly kissing Oswald Cobblepot on a balcony, he would have laughed at that someone. Yet here he was now, once again feeling Oswald’s lips press against his. He was certainly not complaining as Oswald pulled his hands up and touched Ed’s warm face with his cool fingers. In fact, he never wanted the moment to end. Oswald broke the kiss just to gasp for air. He stared into Edward’s eyes hungrily and smirked, licking his lips.

“Well, would you look at that”, he said with a raspy voice. “What happened to the timid nerd I met a couple hours ago?”

“I don’t know”, Ed said truthfully, unable to contain his idiotic grin. “Maybe it’s the Penguin effect.”

“Oh, like the butterfly effect but penguin because of me? Haha. Funny”, Oswald said, but Ed saw he was clearly trying to contain a laughter. “I think it may be the booze, darlin’.”

“Probably”, Edward admitted. He lowered his gaze further down and looked at his hands that were placed on Oswald’s skinny waist. Oswald had definitely looked gorgeous without a shirt on, but actually _touching_ him was a whole other experience. “Blame yourself. You practically forced me to drink it.”

“False”, Oswald said and stole another quick kiss. “You were quite eager on downing those shots.”

“Fine.” Edward ended the conversation by leaning down and initiating another steamy make-out session. Oswald eagerly complied. Ed felt a sudden burst of confidence out of nowhere and slipped his hands past Oswald’s shirt. He started playing around with the waistband of the fishnet stockings and felt Oswald’s skin get goosebumps.

“You’re... tickling me...”, Oswald tried to squirm away from the torment, but Ed had him pinned against the railing of the balcony and his large body, so Oswald truly had nowhere to go.

“Mmm, I think you like it”, Ed said against his lips and grinned devilishly. “Are you ticklish?”

“Shut up”, Oswald commanded and wrapped his arms behind Ed’s neck. “Also, you’re too fuckin’ tall”, he continued.

“Aren’t you wearing high- oh”, Ed’s voice trailed off when he realized Oswald’s platform sneakers were abandoned on the ground near their feet and the shorter man was, indeed, desperately balancing on his tiptoes to reach his mouth. Ed did the only logical thing he could think of; he crouched down a bit and slid his hands underneath Oswald’s ass, lifting him off the ground. Oswald was so light that he truly didn’t even feel tired after the movement.

“Hey!” Oswald squealed, seemingly unable to figure out how to place his legs. He composed himself rather quickly and settled on wrapping them around Ed’s waist. Ed placed him on top of the balcony rail but didn’t let go of his hips. The last thing this night needed was for Oswald to slip and fall down a clocktower.

“Better?” Ed asked. He was now facing Oswald with zero height difference.

“...Yes”, Oswald said after a bit of hesitation and smirked. “God. If I were this tall, I wouldn’t know how to fucking act.” Ed hummed a small laugh before crashing into Oswald’s lips again. It truly felt like he was going to pass out if he didn’t get at least one kiss per minute. This seemed to not be an issue for Oswald, who wrapped his legs around him tighter and slipped his tongue into Ed’s mouth.

“...Hate to interrupt.”

Ed very nearly pushed Oswald off the balcony out of pure shock when he heard a man’s voice behind his back. Oswald was luckily fastened around his whole torso, so he only let out a small yelp and tugged on Ed’s shirt instead of falling to his death. They both turned their eyes to look at the doorway. If Ed hadn’t been red before, he sure was now that he looked in Theo Galavan’s cold, dead eyes.

“What! The! Fuck!” Oswald shouted, putting emphasis on every single word. He pushed Ed further back and jumped off the railing, trying to straighten his shirt which Ed had been busy trying to get off him. Theo smirked. If he had been wearing a pair of horns, Edward could have thought he was actually the Devil. Oswald stormed right up to Theo and looked at the man up and down, furiously shaking.

“You left these on the lounge”, Theo said nonchalantly and raised a pair of fingerless leather gloves. Oswald’s mouth fell slightly open when Theo got right on his face and leaned in, only to place the gloves into his back pocket. He kept his deadly stare on Edward’s face the entire time and didn’t even blink during the interaction. He made sure Ed saw him squeeze Oswald’s buttocks before backing off with a dashing grin.

Oswald had seemingly lost the ability to speak at that moment. He was just glaring at the taller man, blush relishing on his pale face. “Not even a thank you?” Theo asked and tilted his head like a puppy. Oswald scoffed at his unconvincing pouty face.

“For what? Touching my ass with no permission?” the raven-haired man taunted and crossed his arms. Ed moved closer to the other two and put an arm around Oswald’s waist. He had no particular reason for this action – maybe he wanted to comfort Oswald, or maybe he wanted to show Theo who actually owned Oswald.

“Why don’t you go to your girlfriend?” Edward asked. Theo raised a perfect eyebrow. “I’m sure Ms. Falcone misses his goon.”

“Oh”, Theo let out a breath and stifled a laugh. Ed glanced at Oswald, looking rather confused. Hadn’t Oswald just told him that Theo and Sofia were a thing? “You never learned to keep your mouth shut, Oswald”, Theo said, clearly amused. Oswald looked away.

“There is nothing between me and Sofia Falcone, I assure you that much. It was merely... a business relationship”, Galavan said slowly, as if he wanted to make sure he didn’t say a single incorrect word. “Besides, it’s been two years. Don’t you think it’s time to let go, Oswald?”

“You tell me!” Oswald snapped and stepped forward. He grabbed Theo’s tie and forced the taller man to crouch on his level. “ _You’re_ the one constantly touching me. _You’re_ the one constantly following me. _You!_ ”

“Only because you like it”, Galavan shot back. Ed wanted to punch him in the face just to get that stupid grin off him.

“What makes you think I like it?”

“Your dick is hard.” Galavan laughed out loud at Oswald’s face. Ed could only see it from a backwards angle, but he knew Oswald had flushed completely red. His ears were burning up. Oswald stuttered multiple times before finally getting anything out of his mouth.

“Well, Theo, that is because Edward has been clinging to me like a dog in heat! It had NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” It was Edward’s time to blush crimson. Theo looked at the brunette. Ed couldn’t read his expression.

“Very well”, the man decided to drop the subject. It seemed he had also realized that either Oswald or Ed would try punching him soon enough. “You’re welcome for the gloves, sweetheart. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Oswald was still distracted by his pure hatred for the other man, which caused him to just freeze when Theo quickly pecked him on the forehead. Galavan was gone before Oswald remembered how to move again.

“You think I should’ve punched him?” Ed asked after a moment of silence. Oswald rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply.

“Don’t bother”, he said quietly. Ed put his arms around Oswald from and squeezed his small body gently. Oswald didn’t say a word, just leaned back into the touch a little bit and closed his eyes.

“He’s a jerk”, Ed whispered.

“He is.”

“I’ve known him for an hour, and I hate him.”

“That’s Galavan for you”, Oswald chuckled dryly and turned around so he could look at Edward properly. The moment was definitely ruined, that went without saying. Ed couldn’t imagine getting back to making out after the interruption. “I don’t understand how I managed to fall for that bastard back then.”

“People fall in love in mysterious ways.” Oswald laughed at the philosophic statement.

“Okay, Ed Sheeran”, he said and poked Edward’s nose. “How’s about we get the hell out of this balcony? I’m freezing up.” Now that he had mentioned it, Ed realized how cold it actually was. It was never warm in Gotham, but a night in November was not a good time to be hanging outside.

“Good idea”, Ed complied. Oswald grabbed his jacket and shoes and followed Ed out the door. Edward glanced at his watch. Hell, almost two in the morning. Had they actually been making out for nearly an hour?

“You got somewhere to be, loverboy?” Oswald asked after noticing the movement.

“Dougherty is probably hammered by now... No way I’ll step into his car”, Edward muttered. It was barely audible over the loud music around them, but somehow Oswald managed to catch it.

“I’ve got a motorcycle?” It was more of a question than a statement. Ed looked at the shorter man.

“You’re drunk.”

“I am, but so are you, so are you gonna walk to the dorms instead?” It was a good argument. Ed wanted to fight back as a good and law-abiding citizen, but his headache was starting to return, and he couldn’t find the energy.

“Fine”, he obeyed, and Oswald gave him a smile.

“Oh wait, damn it!” the raven-haired man cussed right after, face falling. “Victor left already, didn’t he? He was busy to get dicked down. Fucking slut.”

“So, by ‘I have a motorcycle’ you meant that Zsasz has a motorcycle?”, Edward said and grinned. Oswald rolled his eyes.

“I can ride it!” he said. That wasn’t even what Ed had asked, but he decided to let it go. Oswald was cute when he was all flustered like that. The shorter man turned away from Ed and started walking back to the direction of the private lounge. Ed could barely keep up, and Oswald already slid the door open by the time he got through the crowd of dancing teenagers. Oswald stopped at the doorway so suddenly that Ed walked right into his back.

“Oh, great”, Oswald’s said sarcastically as he watched the two men on the nearest couch. It seemed like booze hadn’t only affected Edward’s sex drive, but Bruce Wayne’s as well, because he was eagerly pushing Jerome into the cushions by his neck.

“Are they fighting or making out?” Ed asked as he stepped into the door right after Oswald.

“Honestly, I don’t know”, a new voice broke the air and they both only now paid attention to the woman sitting on the armchair near the couch. Edward recognized the plump-lipped brunette immediately; Sofia Falcone herself. “Oh, hello, Ozzie”, she smiled at the man in question.

“ _You”_ , Oswald’s voice was dripping disgust. He turned up his nose like Sofia actually smelled bad.

“Me”, Sofia said and fluttered her eyelashes innocently. “Did you think I was gonna pass the party?”

“I thought you’d be sucking Galavan’s dick in the nearest bathroom by now”, Oswald spat out. Ed placed a protective hand on Oswald’s shoulder. He didn’t want him to get into another quarrel, especially not with a woman who had stolen his previous man.

“You must be thinking of yourself”, Sofia leaned into the chair with a smug expression and pulled out her phone. Ed wasn’t surprised to see it was the newest iPhone available in the market. “You seem to have a new... boy toy, anyway”, she continued and looked Edward up and down. Ed couldn’t help but feel like he was getting judged. Oswald was clearly done with the conversation, because he shook Edward’s hand off and walked away from the situation.

“You’re cute.” He turned to look at Sofia again. Her sentence had not been a question.

“Thanks?” Ed said slowly, regretting the interaction immediately. He leaned against the doorframe, trying to look anywhere else than Sofia’s smile or the moaning Jerome on the sofa. He had thought Bruce was dating Selina... Love really did work in mysterious ways.

Oswald returned in a few minutes, sucking on a lollipop and holding a joint. He pulled a pair of keys from his pocket and smirked. “Apparently Mr. Zsasz had graciously left the party with Alvarez’s car, so his bike is still here.” He stood next to Ed and offered the reefer.

“No thank you”, Ed said quickly. Drinking? Sure. Weed? Absolutely not. Oswald shrugged.

“Suit yourself”, he replied and gave one last nasty look at Sofia, who had forgotten about Ed and was texting someone on her phone. “Let’s go. I can’t stand her face.”

“Agreed”, Edward nodded firmly. “I’m also not too fond of... that”, he pointed at Bruce and Jerome, whose clothes were already flying all around the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to slip some cheeky batjokes in there lol. bruce is 17 & jerome is 20 in this if ur wondering


End file.
